Tag Archives: child molestation

The Detroit News reports: A former Michigan priest accused of abusing a child in the 1980s has pleaded guilty to first-degree attempted criminal sexual conduct, state officials announced Tuesday. Vincent DeLorenzo, 84, formerly of Flint, was among the first five priests whom Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel charged in 2019 as part of an ongoing clergy sexual abuse investigation. His …

Salt Lake City’s ABC affiliate reports: The Arizona Supreme Court has ruled that the state’s priest-penitent privilege law exempts The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from revealing information from a confidential spiritual confession. The decision upheld a Dec. 15 ruling by the Arizona Court of Appeals, which also had ruled in favor of the church in a lawsuit …

The Argus Leader reports: Joel Koskan, who ran unsuccessfully for state Senate in 2022 and days before the election was arrested on charges relating to child abuse, pleaded guilty to two counts of felony incest Tuesday morning. He was sentenced in a Hughes County court room to 10 years in the South Dakota State Penitentiary. Koskan, 44, originally faced felony …

The Guardian reports: Cardinal George Pell has died in Vatican City, aged 81. Cardinal Pell, the former Catholic archbishop of Melbourne and Sydney, died on Tuesday evening, reportedly following complications from hip surgery. He was the Vatican’s top finance minister before he left in 2017 to stand trial in Australia for child abuse offences. Cardinal Pell was, in 2018, convicted …

The New Castle Courier-Times reports: Indiana State Police arrested Jonathan Mark Myers, 41, on Thursday, Oct. 27, on three counts of Class B felony sexual misconduct with a minor, one count of Class C felony sexual misconduct with a minor and four counts of Class D felony child seduction. Myers is accused of repeated and continued sexual abuse against a …

The Pensacola News-Journal reports: The family of a teenage girl who was sexually assaulted by a youth director at Gulf Breeze Methodist Church is suing the church, its leadership and the youth pastor. Zarzaur Law, P.A. announced the lawsuit Monday against not only the church but the Alabama-West Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church, Pastor Dan Morris, Executive Pastor …

Charleston’s NBC affiliate reports: The Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office (GCSO) on Friday announced the arrest of an Andrews-area pastor for past criminal sexual conduct with minors. According to GCSO, Thomas Brackett (59) is the pastor of Holy Trinity Pentecostal Church in Andrews. He was taken into custody on 11 warrants that included charges of criminal sexual conduct with two different …

Chicago’s CBS News affiliate reports: Former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert has reached a tentative settlement over payments to a man who accused him of child sexual abuse. The man, referred to only as James Doe in filings, brought the breach-of-contract lawsuit in 2016 in a bid to force Hastert to pay the unpaid balance of the hush money, nearly …

The Insider reports: Josh Duggar, one of the stars of the since-cancelled TLC reality show “19 Kids and Counting,” pleaded not guilty on Friday to multiple unknown federal charges. At an arraignment hearing in federal court in Arkansas, Chief Magistrate Judge Erin Wiedemann did not read out what Duggar was charged with, nor was a complaint immediately released. Wiedemann told …

The Christian Post reports: Leader of the 5 million-member Light of the World church Naason Joaquin Garcia was denied bail on child sex crime charges after a visibly angered Los Angeles Superior Court judge heard a witness describe video evidence that allegedly shows the pastor in a sexual threesome involving a minor. “ This is a man who preyed on …

The New York Times reports: Jeffrey Epstein, the financier facing sex-trafficking charges in New York, was accused of witness tampering on Friday by federal prosecutors, who said he wired $350,000 to two people who were potential witnesses against him. Mr. Epstein sent the money to the potential witnesses in late November and early December, 2018, shortly after the Miami Herald …

The Associated Press reports: A convicted sex offender went on to establish an orphanage in Kenya where he preyed on children under the guise of missionary work, according to federal prosecutors who announced Friday that he was being charged with sexually molesting four teenage girls. Gregory Dow, 60, of Lancaster, is accused of four counts of violating a U.S. law …

The Washington Post reports: Facing mounting criticism over her comments about two men who say they were molested as children by Michael Jackson, legendary singer and actress Barbra Streisand rushed Saturday to explain that she felt “nothing but sympathy” for Jackson’s accusers and tweeted that she was “profoundly sorry for any pain or misunderstanding I caused.” Streisand said in a …

From the Hollywood Reporter: Asked whether she believes Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who accused Jackson of sexually abusing them for a number of years when they were children, Streisand replied, “Oh absolutely. That was too painful.” The singer and actress went on to describe Jackson as “very sweet, very childlike” when she met him a couple of times in …

The Philly Voice reports: A Catholic priest in the Diocese of Erie is charged with sexually assaulting two boys, including an altar boy whom the priest allegedly abused after Mass on Sundays and then made go to confession to describe the incidents, authorities said. Rev. David Poulson, 64, was arrested Tuesday morning and charged with indecent assault, endangering the welfare …

Via press release: At a press conference on April 30, 2018 announcing the filing of a defamation lawsuit against my accusers, a reporter asked me if I had plans to run for public office again. “I have no plans at this time for running for anything,” I said. The reporter continued: “Not even Governor?” I answered: “No.” The Associated Press …

Birmingham’s ABC affiliate reports: “Many more charges” are expected to be filed against Acton Bowen as soon as later this week according to Etowah County Deputy District Attorney Carol Griffith. Prosecutors told a judge more potential victims had been discovered in Orange Beach, Alabama and across state lines in Florida and Colorado. The FBI has now become involved into the …

The Birmingham Herald reports: The latest fundraising efforts by Roy Moore references the Washington Post’s Pulitzer – a prize it won for stories detailing allegations the former Republican Senate candidate had sexual contact with teenage girls in the 1970s. An email from the Roy Moore Legal fund is topped with the headline “Washington Post’s 2018 Pulitzer Prizes for Roy Moore …

The Birmingham Herald reports: The young male victims accusing an Alabama evangelist of multiple sex crimes told investigators the misconduct lasted months, and sometimes years, according to new court records filed on Wednesday. One of the victims, a teen boy over the age of 12 but under the age of 16, said Acton Bowen exposed him to deviate sexual intercourse …

AL.com reports: The wife of failed Senate candidate Roy Moore is criticizing Pulitzer for recognizing journalists who covered allegations her husband had sexual contact with teenage girls in the 1970s. “When journalism becomes a political tool to assassinate someone’s character with false accusations because they disagree with him politically, it is no longer journalism and not worthy of any prize,” …